Durbin and Greenbrier Railroad
Durbin and Greenbrier Scenic Railroad
The Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad (D&GVR) is now a tourist line, but in its heyday of operation it formed part of the mighty Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, (C&O) Greenbrier Division. Today most of the former 100 miles of track bed from the junction of Whitcomb/North Caldwell to the town of Cass has been converted to a cycle trail. The Cass to Durbin section was washed away in a mighty flood in 1985 and was never replaced. The only useable track bed is the section from Durbin Station, south along the Greenbrier River to a small halt at Hevner, a running distance of 5 miles.
The D&GVR star attraction is a 55 ton Climax geared steam locomotive, built over 100 years ago by the Climax works of Cory in Pennsylvania. There were 3 classes of Climax’s built. This locomotive, old number 3 is a Class B and is one of only 3 operating engines still in working condition. It spent most of its working life hauling timber for the Moore-Keppel Lumber Company in nearby Randolph County until 1940 when the mill closed. Today it pulls a caboose, a flat wagon and a covered coach, all built in the 1920’s.
In this film we see the early morning shunting in Durbin Yard and a run down the line. On the return journey we capture the beauty of the Greenbrier River, from both onboard the train and at various points along the route.